Rock Point Bridge

Photos 

Rock Point Bridge

Pre-Rehab: North elevation

Photo taken by Michael Goff in March 2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #138378

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview

Concrete arch bridge over Rogue River on OR 99

Location

Gold Hill, Jackson County, Oregon

Status

Open to traffic

Future prospects

Rehabilitated in 2010.

History

Built 1919, Rehabilitated 2010

Builders

- Conde B. McCullough of Redfield, South Dakota (Bridge Engineer)
- Mats O. Halvardson (Rehabilitation Design Engineer)
- Parker & Banfield of Portland, Oregon (Contractor)
- Wildish Standard Paving Co. of Eugene, Oregon (Rehabilitation Contractor)

Design

The Rock Point Bridge is an early major arch bridge completed under the design auspices of Conde B. McCullough, Oregon’s noted bridge engineer. McCullough designed the Rock Point Bridge, originally on the old Pacific Highway, to conform with and complement the local landscape. The structure is 505 feet in length, and the main span is a single 113 foot open-spandrel, rib-type reinforced concrete deck arch. The structure has curved arch fascia curtain walls. The railing on the original main span is an urn-shaped balustrade with a band of dentils below. The ends of the main piers are bushhammered for textured contrast. The structure replaced a timber Howe truss covered bridge. The bridge was built by Parker and Banfield, Portland. Because of the great depth of the water at the bridge location, it was impossible to build falsework under the main arch span. The contractor solved the problem by building a temporary wood truss span over the river to give support to the forms.
(Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon, 1989)

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 112.9 ft.
Total length: 504.9 ft.
Deck width: 19.0 ft.

Recognition

Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places

Approximate latitude, longitude

+42.43222, -123.09028   (decimal degrees)
42°25'56" N, 123°05'25" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

10/492574/4697771 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Gold Hill

Average daily traffic (as of 2014)

2,300

Inventory numbers

OR 00332A (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)
BH 29993 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection report (as of August 2015)

Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 53.4 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Update Log 

• November 17, 2016: New photo from Dave King
• January 9, 2012: New photos from Michael Goff
• October 21, 2009: Updated by Michael Goff: added rehab information and bridge design/history info.
• April 20, 2009: Posted HAER photos
• December 15, 2008: New photos from Michael Goff
• November 17, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
• July 8, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
• June 12, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff

Related Bridges 

• Depot Street Bridge (Downstream) - Modern I-5 - Homestead Bridges between structures
• Gold Hill Bridge (Upstream)

Sources 

• Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
• Rock Point Bridge Rehabilitation - ODOT Rock Point Bridge Rehab. Project Page
• HAER OR-29 - Rock Point Arch Bridge, Spanning Rogue River & Old Pacific Highway, Route , Gold Hill, Jackson County, OR
• Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon - Dwight A. Smith, James B. Norman & Pieter T. Dykman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1989
• Elegant Arches, Soaring Spans - Robert W. Hadlow, Oregon State University Press, 2001
• Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com

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